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G4S: Securing whose world?

In a privatised children's prison, a care worker restrained a boy who died; G4S promoted him. After guards killed an asylum-seeker on a plane, G4S was handed a public contract to provide housing for asylum-seekers — they've made a mess of that. In a prison van in Australia they baked a man to death.

Welcome to our investigation into G4S, the security and surveillance people who see democratic uprisings as a business opportunity. They're running privatised public services worldwide.

This work, led by award-winning reporter Clare Sambrook, followed by the BBC, The Times, The Guardian and the New York Times, is part of the Shine A Light project.

509 suspicious deaths of people from BME, migrant and asylum seeker communities in state custody over 23 years. Five prosecutions. Not one single conviction. A chilling report from the Institute of Race Relations.

For years women locked up inside Yarl’s
Wood, a UK government lock-up in Bedfordshire, have complained of racist abuse, sexual abuse and shoddy medical
treatment. Now there is video evidence. WATCH
‘INSIDE YARL’S WOOD’ CHANNEL 4 NEWS

Following the acquittal on 16 December of the G4S guards charged with the manslaughter of Jimmy Mubenga, barrister Frances Webber, chair of the Institute of Race Relations, focuses on the judge’s decision to rule inadmissible evidence pointing to endemic racism within G4S.

Jimmy
Mubenga died under restraint by three G4S guards. Extreme racist texts found on
two of the guards’ phones were withheld from the jury who yesterday cleared all three
men of manslaughter. (Warning: this piece contains highly offensive language)

A culture of revenue and profit-driven performance incentives has too often been misaligned with the needs of the public who fund and depend on these services. Margaret Hodge MP writes on the Public Accounts Committee's new report on the contracting out of public services.

Yesterday Chris Grayling, who is both Minister of State for Justice (dismantling the legal aid system) and Lord Chancellor (sworn to uphold the rule of law), gave evidence before the House of Commons Justice Committee.

Do detention companies deliberately escalate tensions so they can extract more money from governments? Bart Denaro, Antony Loewenstein, Ramesh
Fernandez and Brynn O'Brienshine a light on a thriving trade in human misery.

Four years ago the coalition government promised to end child detention for immigration purposes. But they didn't. Instead, the UK's biggest children's charity and security giant G4S created a prettier prison.

Lack of legal representation. Poor medical care. Threat of solitary confinement. Immigration detainees in England and Scotland protest against what they claim is routine inhumanity by the state and its commercial contractors.

On Thursday the Crown Prosecution Service announced that three former G4S guards, Stuart Tribelnig, Terry Hughes and Colin
Kaler, would stand
trial for the manslaughter of Jimmy Mubenga on a BA plane in October 2010. Long before
Mubenga's death, Lord Ramsbotham was among those who warned repeatedly that Home Office contractors used dangerous methods of restraint.

Led by acclaimed investigative reporters Clare Sambrook and Rebecca Omonira-OyekanmiShine A Light exposes injustice, challenges official lying, and provides intelligence and ammunition to people working for policy change. (Please note: Our site is currently being improved. Our archive sections have yet to be updated.)